Between The Blades

When I started painting watercolor 40+ years ago (take a breath with me as I process that) I certainly could not have seen what it would look like this far down the road. In the beginning I focused on getting the atmosphere and mood of each painting right and over time began introducing larger foreground subjects into the setting. That said, as an artist I’m always on the hunt for a compelling moment with an interesting composition. When I happened upon these blades of beach grass in the foreground I thought it would be perfect with our famous Haystack Rock small and in the distance. By way of reminder, the challenge with watercolor is there is largely no going back. With “Between The Blades” I could not paint the grasses until the rest of the painting was nearly completed. I had to systematically add the blades one at a time planning where each would begin and end. The rhythm created by the spacing is important to me so each brush stroke adds or takes away from the whole and must be carefully executed, very much like calligraphy.